What we're looking at
Rep. Jeff Flake said Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of federal family-planning money, even though federal law specifically says programs that designate abortion as a method of family planning cannot get federal funds.

The comment
"It's long been known that Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of federal family-planning funds, despite the fact that federal law specifically prohibits funds to be used for programs that designate abortion as a method of family planning."

Analysis
Several family-planning centers and clinics throughout the U.S. rely on funding from Title X, a federal grant program, for at least a portion of their income. Title X was recently included in a list of programs recommended for elimination to save money on the federal budget.

The Title X program, created by Congress in 1970, is the only federal grant program dedicated exclusively to providing people with comprehensive family-planning and related preventive-health services, according to a 2008 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Priority is given to low-income individuals.

Section 1008 of Title X stipulates that federal Title X funds shall not be used in "programs where abortion is a method of family planning." But that prohibition "does not apply to all the activities of a Title X grantee, but only to those within the Title X project," according to the CRS report.

In other words, recipients of Title X funds may provide abortion services, as long as those activities are kept "separate and distinct" from activities funded by Title X.

Planned Parenthood, an organization that offers sexual and reproductive care and information services at more than 800 health centers, some of which provide abortions, is a key Title X beneficiary.

More than $17 million in Title X funding for fiscal year 2010 was awarded directly to Planned Parenthood, according to a Department of Health and Human Services list of Title X grantees. However, other grantees are also free to award sub-grants to other health-care providers, such as Planned Parenthood, if they so choose.
Tait Sye, national spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said the organization ultimately receives roughly a quarter of Title X's $317 million, or about $79 million.

Planned Parenthood also receives government funding through contracts, grants and Medicaid reimbursement. According to the organization's 2008-09 annual financial report, the most recent available, government funding accounted for approximately $363 million of Planned Parenthood's $1.1 billion annual budget. Sye estimated that around 90 percent of the $363 million came from the federal level.

Abortions accounted for about 3 percent of Planned Parenthood services detailed in the organization's 2008-09 annual report.
Planned Parenthood says it keeps keep abortion services "separate and distinct" from regular Title X family-planning services, as required. Planned Parenthood health centers do this by, among other things:

-- Having separate, standalone centers for Title X services, as is the case in Arizona.

-- Providing abortion services in other buildings or on different floors from where they provide other services.

-- Providing Title X services on different days than abortion services.

Planned Parenthood health centers are regularly audited to ensure they're complying with the separation requirements, Sye said.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Title X money, detailed the requirements in the Federal Register in 2000:

"Non-Title X abortion activities must be separate and distinct from Title X project activities. Where a grantee conducts abortion activities that are not part of the Title X project and would not be permissible if they were, the grantee must ensure that the Title X-supported project is separate and distinguishable from those other activities. What must be looked at is whether the abortion element in a program of family-planning services is so large and so intimately related to all aspects of the program as to make it difficult or impossible to separate the eligible and non-eligible items of cost."

The notice, published by DHS's Office of Population Affairs, continues: "Certain kinds of shared facilities are permissible, so long as it is possible to distinguish between the Title X supported activities and non-Title X abortion-related activities: (a) a common waiting room is permissible, as long as the costs properly pro-rated; (b) common staff is permissible, so long as salaries are properly allocated and all abortion-related activities of the staff members are performed in a program which is entirely separate from the Title X project; (c) a hospital offering abortions for family-planning purposes and also housing a Title X project is permissible, as long as the abortion activities are sufficiently separate from the Title X project; and (d) maintenance of a single file system for abortion and family-planning patients is permissible, so long as costs are properly allocated."

Still, some politicians, such as Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., argue that Title X funding, while not paying for abortions directly, frees up money for organizations like Planned Parenthood to provide abortions by covering expenses such as overhead and operational costs. Pence has proposed an amendment, which Flake said he supports, that would threaten Planned Parenthood's federal funding.

The Pence Amendment aims to stop "any and all" kinds of federal funding from being allocated to Planned Parenthood and its affiliates for the rest of the fiscal year. The amendment passed the House on Feb. 18 and is awaiting Senate action.

Bottom line: Flake was correct in saying that Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of Title X federal family-planning money. He was also correct in saying that Title X funding, by law, may not be used to promote or provide abortions. However, Flake did not mention the fact that funding recipients may provide abortions and still be in compliance with Title X, as long as abortion services are offered "separately and distinctly" from Title X services. Planned Parenthood uses a variety of methods to separate its abortion services, which account for 3 percent of the organization's total range of aid, from its Title X services.

Please tell us about the issue you want us to check. Be as specific as possible so our team can track down the claim in question.

* Fields with an asterisk are required

Your name (optional)

Your e-mail (optional)

* What candidate made this claim?

* Where did you see or hear this claim? If online, please provide the web address.

* Please describe the political claim.

Security Code

Verification Complete

Submitting...

AZ Fact Check: Keeping Arizona Honest

AZ Fact Check is a service of The Arizona Republic, 12 News and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. It is not affiliated with www.FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.